Unusual Segulot of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, or the Benefits of a Red Dress

Unusual Segulot of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, or the Benefits of a Red Dress

Yiftach, of whom the Sages say: “Yiftach in his generation was like Moshe in his generation, and like Shmuel in his generation”, before going to war against the children of Ammon, made a vow that if the Almighty granted him victory in the war, he would offer as a sacrifice the first person to come out of his house to greet him. This was the vow of an am haaretz, and yet the Almighty listened to this man, who was prepared to sacrifice everything he had, and granted him victory in the war. The tragic end of the story is that his daughter came out to greet him, and he sacrificed her to G-d. The Tanakh does not mention her name; she is referred to only as “the daughter of Yiftach”. The gematria of this expression is 900, the same as that of the phrase “the secret of the Jewish heart.” What was the tikkun of Yiftach’s daughter? The Maggid of Kozhnitz had a daughter named Perl. She was a great righteous woman and scholar. She studied extensively, wore tzitzit beneath her clothing, and during prayer she donned a tallit and tied a gartel. She married, and each time she was due to give birth, the baby died. She traveled to Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, and he blessed her, promising that she would have a son. She did indeed have a son, and they named him Moshe. He was a righteous child, and when he was seven years old, his grandfather, Rabbi Israel, held a tish on Shabbat Chukat. The grandson climbed onto the table and began delivering his own words of Torah. He explained and justified why Moshe struck the rock instead of speaking to it. After he finished speaking, he climbed down from the table and told his mother that he would soon die and that she should not pray for him, because the matter had already been decreed in Heaven. Indeed, he died a few days later. His mother was devastated and went to her father. He told her that the child had been a gilgul of the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu, and that he had come into the world solely to say these words of Torah, in which he justified why Moshe struck the rock. In this way, he completed his tikkun and died. He said that if she knew where her son was now in Heaven, and what joy there was there, she would not grieve. After this, she again went to Rabbi Elimelech to ask for a blessing for children. He told her that the reason she could not give birth to children who survived was that she was too spiritual: at the time of conception, she was in the higher worlds, and in order to bear children, she needed to descend into the material world. What could she do? He told her to begin wearing fashionable clothing. It is said that she went out and bought a red dress with 11 silver fasteners, and walked down the street in it several times until people began saying that she had “gone astray.” Then she became pregnant, and the day before she was due to give birth, she dreamed that she was in the heavenly chamber in Gan Eden where her son was. She wanted to embrace him, but he told her that it was impossible, and that she would give birth to a son. Indeed, the next day she gave birth to a son and named him Chaim Meir Yechiel, giving him three names so that he would survive. He grew up to become a Saraf, regarded as the greatest tzadik in Poland at that time. Whenever he recalled his brother, he would refer to him as “my brother, Moshe Rabbeinu”, although he had never seen him. In any case, Perl, the daughter of the Maggid of Kozhnitz, was the tikkun of Yiftach’s daughter, while her son was the tikkun of Moshe Rabbeinu: he rectified what is described in Parshat Chukat. (Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, http://gal-einai.ru/uroki/iftah-syn-bludnitsy-glava-pokoleniya/)   There is another story about Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, whose unusual advice helped a boy come into the world. One of the tzadik’s chassidim had remained childless for many years. One day, Rabbi Elimelech asked him: “Tell me, what is your relationship with your wife like? Is everything peaceful and harmonious?” The chassid replied that, thank G-d, everything was fine: there was peace in their home, and they never argued or quarreled. – “If so, that is the reason for your wife’s infertility,” the Rebbe said. – “Here is my advice: when you return home, try to disrupt your peace. Have an argument, and then make peace. This will be your salvation.” Naturally, the chassid was astonished by such advice, but he was a chassid, and therefore decided to do everything his Rebbe had told him. When he returned home, his wife greeted him as usual. But remembering the Rebbe’s words, he put on an angry expression and began picking on his wife and reprimanding her over insignificant matters. Unaccustomed to such treatment, she began to cry and shout. He shouted back, and in short, the quarrel succeeded. After some time, the chassid decided that it was time to make peace. That same year, they had a child. The joyful father traveled to Lizhensk to share the good news with his Rebbe and ask about the meaning of that strange advice. – “We read in the Torah that when Rachel complained to Yaakov that she had no children: ‘and Yaakov’s anger flared against Rachel’. It is difficult to understand why Yaakov became angry, since Rachel was asking him to pray so that she, too, could have children—an entirely natural request for a woman. But Yaakov understood that because their relationship was always peaceful and even-tempered, it lacked novelty and freshness. This was the reason they had no children. He deliberately initiated an argument in order to disrupt the calm in their relationship and bring about a situation in which G-d would accept their prayers and Rachel would become a mother.” (based on the book “Brothers” by Rabbi Yaakov Doktor)